Eric Holder Feb 2013: 'Contempt Vote Didn't Have Huge Impact On Me'

Attorney General Eric Holder got a little feisty during a House Judiciary Committee Hearing Tuesday when Rep. Louis Gohmert suggested that being held in contempt of Congress didn’t appear to matter to the Attorney General.

After Holder dismissed Gohmert’s requests for documents relating to congressional investigations, Gohmert said, “I realize that contempt is not a big deal to our Attorney General, but it is important that we have proper oversight.”

“You should not assume that uh that is not a big deal to me,” Holder continued. “I think it was inappropriate, I think it was unjust, but never think that it was not a big deal to me. Don’t ever think that.”

Gohmert insisted that Republicans were focused on getting to the bottom of the Fast and Furious gun running scandal.

Republicans have every reason to believe that being held in contempt is not “a big deal” to Eric Holder based on Eric Holder’s own words. In an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Pierre Thomas on February 27, 2013, Holder was asked about how he reacted when House Republicans voted and 17 Democrats voted to hold him in contempt of Congress over the ATF’s “Fast and Furious” gun running scandal.

“It’s something that I think was unfortunate,” Holder said. “I think it’s a result of this kind of partisan sport that I think we engage in here in Washington far too often.”

Holder said the votes it didn’t bother him, considering who cast them.

Holder’s disrespect for Republicans was on display at today’s hearing when he sneered at Gohmert, “good luck with your asparagus,” which you can hear at the very end of the clip.

Last May, Holder and Gohmert got into an argument at a House Judiciary Committee meeting. Gohmert, who’s been consistently critical of the attorney general (if largely inconsistent on the reason for the critique), alleged that the Department of Justice had failed to prevent the Boston marathon bombing. Holder criticized Gohmert’s characterization, and Gohmert, flustered, responded: “The attorney general will not cast aspersions on my asparagus.” It was never clear what he meant or what he was trying to say, but the “asparagus” line became a running joke, with Gohmert as the target.

That was an Attorney General of the United States trash talking a member of congress.